How many more people need to die? Ross MSP Kate Forbes says after the latest A9 death: 'We cannot endure this for any longer'
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Former candidate for First Minister Kate Forbes said the latest A9 death is “devastatingly sad,” adding “we cannot endure this for any longer”.
The SNP MSP said progress needs to be quick and even if it were completed within the decade, it “feels too long considering the 18 months we have witnessed but we have to start somewhere”.
She talked about “that sense of fear and anguish” people across the region experience when they hear of the latest accident as something that “I don’t think the Highlands will tolerate” much longer.
'Fear and anguish '
“I think the entirety of the Highlands is desperate to see the A9 dualled,” said the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch representative. “I think there is genuinely a fear that grips every heart in the Highlands when you hear of another accident.
“On Friday morning, I knew I had family travelling, I knew of friends who were travelling and you have the immediate fear that it may be someone you know and love who has been in an accident.
“I don’t think the Highlands will tolerate that sense of fear and anguish over so many fatalities for much longer. They demand action, they were demanding action years ago, demanding a new timetable months ago.
“If the A9 is really an absolute priority we need to see that reflected in the sense of urgency in which the timetable is published and a commitment to prioritise the capital funding to dual it.”
'We cannot endure this any longer'
The Scottish Government admitted in February that it would fail to meet its pledge to have the A9 dualled from Inverness to Perth by 2025.
Asked if she would back Fergus Ewing’s call for a full timeline before the summer, she said: “Absolutely, I would support that call – we cannot endure this any longer.
“We obviously await further details but this is devastatingly sad, to imagine the grief and sense of loss the family and friends of the teenager are going through and also the impact on other drivers and also the emergency services.
“The whole programme of dualling the A9 was always predicated on making it safer while there were supporters of it that thought it would have benefits in other ways, the whole point of it was to make one of the most dangerous roads in Scotland safer.
“Over the last 12-18 months there have been such a high number of fatalities and casualties, it really demonstrates how critically essential it is that the road is made safer through dualling.
Utmost urgency needed
Responding to a question about what she would have done differently had she been elected First Minister instead of Humza Yousaf, Ms Forbes spoke of the need for urgency.
She said: “I said that we needed to kick-start the dualling programme as a matter of the utmost urgency, demanding that Transport Scotland publish a renewed timetable in the first few weeks of being office with a commitment to dual the A9 from Perth to Inverness within the decade.
“And even that feels too long considering the 18 months we have witnessed but we have to start somewhere.
“We have to prioritise funding, prioritising work at Transport Scotland and ensuring the contract process works for contractors.”
So far transport minister Kevin Stewart has not agreed to be interviewed by The Inverness Courier about the A9 – unlike this predecessor Jenny Gilruth – nor has he met with A9 safety campaigners.
She said: “I have always known Kevin Stewart to be a proactive minister, so absolutely in consistency with the previous briefs that he has held, I think it is important that he meets with stakeholders, meets with the local press and makes the journey as I am sure he will.
"And I would be very happy to invite him.”
